I’m live-blogging #AREC16 from the Gold Coast. Here are my top learnings from Tom Hector: Zero-130 Transactions in 3 Years.
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Tom’s focus is on takeaway content! The live-blogging starts now:
- Make Prospecting an Absolute Obsession – and have belief in the activity even when you’re not getting the results. You can’t sustain longevity in the real estate business without this. Ivan Bresic taught him to build his database, knowing the magic would happen later. You may need to grind for 5 years! So the early days were a bit of a roller-coaster, but every day he faxed his coach his call and activity list – the accountability created consistency.
- Own an Area – a marketplace where you are a household name, which means 30%+ marketshare. It’s all about the numbers, but the activity needs to be focused. Tom has a minimum spend of $12,000 per year on this activity, and consistent activity – he even runs Just Listed / Just Sold campaigns on competitors’ listings.
He talks about locals having a ‘Tom Hector file’ which is where they store his quarterly market reports. I remember this from Patrick Dixon‘s River Reports at the start of my career – one report is helpful, but consistency (theme much?) positions you as an expert. Doorknocking is the same – 5 times in 6 months to be remembered.
The 3rd year is when it starts to happen – your initial competition has given up, your current competition are all new, and the phone starts ringing because you’re the local expert.
- Learn the Craft of how to List and Sell houses. There is a difference between being a Salesperson and being a true Professional. Tom focused on self-assessment – spending time every week reviewing his presentation skills and applying the lessons he picked up from the training and coaching he invested in.
Automation is the way of the future, but that doesn’t replace the human touch or personal skills. You need to convert your opportunities – Volume + Skill, because there’s no point making the calls if you can’t create meetings, or creating listing presentations without winning any.
Incidentally, my formula for creating revenue: Revenue = Activity x Conversion Rates x Margin x Retention & Referrals. Make sure you have the skills to pull all of these levers.
- Tom has a team of 4 – he’s the prospector, Chase deals with all the administration tasks based in the office delivering world-class customer service (an Admin PA is your first recruit at 30 sales), Jarrod is the junior agent assisting with buyer work and listing some of his own properties (target this person at 60 sales), and Todd deals with the overflow tasks like valuations and building inspections assisting on a daily basis (necessary above 100 sales per annum).
What does a day in Tom Hector’s current life look like? The fundamental difference from the early days is calling warm data – and he’s earned the right to call them. Tom has a daily schedule – when he arrives, team meeting at 8am, calling vendors, from 9am-12pm making outbound calls booking meetings, market appraisals (he does 40-50 per month) and additional calls to get the deals over the line.
Tom knows he needs to sleep well and eat well to manage his energy. Again – is that sinking in yet?!
And the other Tom – Panos – reinforces this point: If you don’t have a PA, you ARE the PA!
- Do you know your numbers? Tom’s financial year to date is 489 Appraisals, 181 Listings, 147 Properties Sold, and $1.235 million in gross commission income. He also tracks all the office stats at Harris – they sold 135 properties last month and the team has grown from 4 people to 120. It’s all about the numbers.
Simple? Well it’s not rocket surgery, but the Nike principle applies – real estate sales is one of the highest paid professions, one of the easiest to get into, but so many people don’t succeed because they don’t ‘Just Do It’!
Out next speaker (after morning tea) will be Sherrie Storor, and I’ll be liveblogging here.
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Fancy a coffee?
Jacob Aldridge is a co-founder and business coach at Real Estate Grow.
If you’re a real estate Principal looking for fresh ways to help you work on your business, let’s chat. Contact me on either 0427 151 181 or jacob@realestategrow.com.au.
Not ready for that level of commitment? Follow me on Twitter @jacobaldridge
